New Delhi: Ingenico Group of France on Tuesday said it will buy 100% stake in TechProcess Payment Services, which owns electronic payments platform Billjunction.

The company did not disclose the financial terms of the deal. However, people aware of the matter told Mint that Ingenico has shelled out approximately Rs600 crore for the acquisition of TechProcess. Avendus Capital was the advisor to this transaction.

Goodwin Procter LLP served as international legal counsel to TechProcesss’ shareholders. BMR Associates LLP served as Indian tax advisors and BMR Legal advised the Ingenico Group on Indian law matters.

The two companies have signed an in-principle agreement for the deal. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of this year.

Ingenico is present in the online payments business through its ePayments entity EBS, and has a 50% market share of credit card swipe machines installed in the country.

In a statement, Ingenico said it will expand its footprint in the country and ultimately offer cross-border capabilities. “Based on its already leading position in terminal market, Ingenico Group is making, with the acquisition of TechProcess, a major step in India, the fastest growing country in Asia. The combination of our assets places us in a unique position to benefit from India’s shift towards electronic payment transactions and to strengthen our leadership in Indian instore and online payment acceptance,” said Philippe Lazare, the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Ingenico Group.

Founded in 2000, Mumbai-based TechProcess is an online and mobile payment services provider with approximately 600 employees across 40 locations. It was originally incubated by ICICI Venture and now has investors such as Greylock Partners, Battery Ventures, Nokia Growth Partners and W Capital Partners.

“Their (Ingenico Group) leading position in payment industry will help us accelerate our development and allow us to lead the offline-online convergence in India,” said Kumar Karpe, CEO of TechProcess.

In November, TechProcess partnered with NumberMall, an app-based payments platform for small merchants, in a deal that will enable 30,000 kirana shops to accept cashless payments. TechProcess also has a payment wallet Paynimo.

In India, around 90% of the purchases are done in cash at present.

However, electronic payments are expected to increase significantly in the coming years, given the recent government initiatives, Ingenico said in the statement.